The Sauer Castle in Kansas City, Kansas
is a decaying 19th century Italian villa style mansion which sits vacant
and is reputedly haunted. The Sauer Castle was erected around 1871, at
an estimated cost of $20,000, for Anton Philllip Sauer, a German immigrant
who first came to Kansas City in the 1860s. The house originally stood
on a 63 acre site that was landscaped and terraced for Sauer's vineyards.
Only 4 acres remain today.

Anton Sauer lived in the home until his death in 1879.
His widow continued to live there until her death in 1921 and the property
remained in the family until 1950. The husband of one of Sauer's daughters
committed suicide in 1930 and over the years there were rumors that the
home was haunted.

In the 1980s, the Sauer Castle was acquired by Anton Sauer's
great-great-grandson, Carl Lopp. The absentee property owner has done relatively
little to maintain the property. The city would like to see the property
sold and restored or developed, but the owner refuses to sell.

In recent years, various web sites have told more expansive
ghost stories about the empty house and that may have encouraged break-ins
and vandalization.